Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder
by DavidWhitlock
Summary: TWILIGHT UNIVERSE, POSSIBILITY OF CULLENS LATER ON, CURRENTLY AU. When Natalie arrives for another day of college she expects the usual boring life choices. She doesn't expect...him.


**Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder**

_TWILIGHT UNIVERSE, POSSIBILITY OF CULLENS LATER ON, CURRENTLY AU. When Natalie arrives for another day of college she expects the usual boring life choices. She doesn't expect...him._

**Distractions**

The skies were dull and grey. The sun was hiding up there somewhere, behind the thick mess of clouds. I didn't mind the weather, though. A small part of me welcomed it. As much as I enjoyed the sunlight, there was a beautiful sense of mystery about this grey-ness - the way the sun stayed hidden and refused to reveal itself. A small smile stretched across my face. It was very rare that I started the day in such a positive mood, but something about today gave my butterflies in my stomach. I could feel the wind changing as it whipped around my face. Something wonderful was going to happen today, I knew it.

The path up to college was long, and my legs were tired by the time I reached my classroom. The room was empty at the moment, but I wasted no time in walking in and sitting in my usual seat. I pulled out a reading book and stuck my nose in, content with loosing myself in my own little world. I didn't notice the class starting to fill with students until Viv walked in. She had friendly eyes and a very caring smile. It was that, and the subject she taught, which made her my favourite teacher in the college. English Literature was a subject I'd loved since I was a child. I revelled in the magic of words, and the power they had over me was almost completely ridiculous. Literature affected me like nothing else in the world.

Viv had already started the lecture when the door opened behind us. A strong gust of wind blew into the classroom and surrounded me. My heart almost stopped. The wind had carried in the most wonderfully intoxicating smell. It was indescribable, like nothing I'd ever smelt before. But something about it just caught me up. I sat paralysed in my seat, my mind now a jumbled mess.

"You can sit next to Natalie." Viv's words snapped into my daydream and woke me up. I was the only student in the class that had chosen to sit on a table alone – I was more concerned with my studies than socializing, and did not welcome any distractions during class. But now it seemed that I would be sharing my table with a new student. And from the looks of things, they would be very distracting. The smell still hovered around me a little, and my mind was having difficulties properly resurfacing. I could hear their steps echoing on the floor as they walked rather quickly to my table. With every step, the smell seemed to get stronger and stronger. I forcefully shut my eyes and I started to breathe a little deeper in an attempt to regain focus. I refused to open my eyes, but I could hear the student pull out the chair beside me and slide into it, and then place their stuff very carefully onto the desk. Every action seemed to be almost silent, but I listened as carefully as I possibly could so that I could hear each movement. I knew I would have to open my eyes soon so that I could at least attempt to concentrate on today's lecture, and I dreaded that moment. If they looked as good as they smelt…

"As I was saying," Viv's chirpy voice began to continue with the lecture, her heals clicking on the floor as she bounced around the classroom. Her love for literature was clear to see in the amount of energy she poured into each and every lesson – another reason I loved her so much. Reluctantly, my eyelids slowly opened. I tried very hard to look forward, but my curiosity soon got the better of me and I allowed myself a cheeky glance to my side where the new student sat. My breath caught in my throat. The first thing I noticed was his height. He towered above me – he must have been at least a foot taller. But his height could only distract me for so long. His light brown hair swept across his forehead. It was shaggy, but neat. So unintentionally perfect. His eyes, which now stared out towards the board that Viv so enthusiastically bounced around, were a beautiful colour. It was a colour I couldn't name, could hardly describe. It was an incredibly dazzling mixture of brown, bronze and golden. His long, extraordinarily pale fingers cupped his chin. I never believed that it was possible for anyone's complexion to be quite so pale, but when looking at him I began to question why anyone would seek out a tan when it was possible to be that colour.

I hadn't realised how long I'd be staring at him for, but it must have been a while. I can't have been very subtle with it either, because he soon turned his head slightly and, in such a brief moment that I almost didn't catch it, he _winked_ at me. His eyes glistened mischievously at me for a few moments as I struggled to catch my breath. Looking into his eyes, it was almost as though he could hear my irregular breathing, and he seemed amused by it. I stuck my lip out stubbornly – I was not one who enjoyed being made fun of – and abruptly turned my head so that I was facing the board.

There was another hour left of the lesson until break. I tried my very best to focus on Viv's lecture. I pretended to listen as she prattled on about Fitzgerald's use of narratives in The Great Gatsby. Not that I particularly needed to listen – I'd already gone over this information several times at home, and could have explained each point she mentioned. Nonetheless, I was annoyed. I was annoyed at this new student for distracting me. I was annoyed at him for occupying every single one of my thoughts. I was annoyed because, despite my interest in this subject, I had to waste the next hour on trying not to look back in his direction. By the time Viv dismissed us for break at ten thirty, I'd already decided that I disliked him. I was sliding my arms into the sleeves of my coat, ready to rush out of the classroom to enjoy the next fifteen minutes of freedom, when I heard his voice. It was kind of low, but happy. There was a hint at a foreign accent – something American, maybe Southern? It made my mouth water a little. It was impossible not to smile at the sound of his voice. I added that to my list of reasons that I disliked him.

"Hello, my name is David. You're Natalie, right?" I turned to face him, and my heart stopped dead in my chest. Bad. Idea. His head was tilted ever so slightly to the left, and his lovely pink lips were stretched into a cheeky smile. My thoughts went fuzzy again, and although I knew I should respond, I simply couldn't bring myself to. My whole body was locked.

It took me several long minutes to compose myself until eventually the words came to my lips. "Yeah, I'm Natalie." My voice sounded rude, and I instantly regretted that. In a horrible attempt to make up for it, I smiled at him. My smile seemed pathetic compared to his, and I suddenly felt very stupid. "So, you're new here?" I asked, trying very hard to make polite conversation. If we were going to be sitting next to each other for the rest of the school year, I may as well try to be friendly with him.

Suddenly he laughed a very booming laugh. It seemed to echo around the room, bouncing of all of the walls. The laugh made my heart feel very warm. I could hear it echo around my head, like it had around the room. It was the kind of noise that people would kill to hear. I took a very deep breath and tried to control myself again. "Yes," he finally responded. "How did you guess?" The mischievous twinkle returned to his eyes, but this time I stayed strong.

"Anyway, it was lovely meeting you." I smiled at him again, trying very hard not to think about how silly my smile must look in comparison to his. "Now, if you don't mind, I have about ten minutes left of this break to enjoy." And with that I pushed my chair back and stood up. I did try my very best to remain composed, but my head must have been elsewhere. As I tried to move around my chair, my foot got caught behind one of the chair legs, and soon I found myself falling face first towards the ground. His arms were around me in an instant. He was very strong, and I liked the feeling of him holding me. He steadied me on my feet and held me there for a while before letting me go. I was so consumed by the fact that this gorgeous stranger has his hands secured on my hips that I almost didn't notice the temperature of them. Fuck, he was _freezing_. Once he could see that I was not going to fall over, he let go of me and his hand very casually swung back down to his sides. "Thanks," I murmured awkwardly.

His cheeky smile spread back across his face, and his eyes regained their twinkle. "Be sure to send me a postcard on your next trip." His voice was alluring, and his words blended together in one beautiful fluid roll of the tongue.

Rolling my eyes, I stormed past him and towards the classroom door. Under my breath I muttered to myself, "So long as you're not there to catch me." I thought I heard him laugh, before I realised how impossible that was. There was no way he could've heard me. I shook my head at myself as I walked towards the student lounge. And I'd been hoping for a year without distractions.


End file.
